


Dinner Date

by orphan_account



Series: Enchanted Worlds [24]
Category: Princess Tutu
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-13
Updated: 2014-06-13
Packaged: 2018-02-04 13:02:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1780078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ahiru and Fakir enjoy a romantic picnic on a summer evening.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dinner Date

The first thing Ahiru did upon leaving Chrestomanci's office was to run back to her room to check on her appearance, given that she'd been distracted and in a hurry when she'd left earlier. Once she was assured that her hair and clothes looked fine, she raced back out and hurried downstairs. Her heart was already racing from exertion by the time she got to the back door, and the sight of Fakir waiting there for her did nothing to slow it down. He was all cleaned up from his ballet lesson and looking good in the nice (though slightly old and worn, but then, there was something comforting about that that always made her want to snuggle up to him even more than she already did) clothes he'd chosen, and smiled when he saw her. She gave him a breathless smile in return, and waited to speak until she'd caught her breath. "H-hi! U-um, I'm not late, am I? Sorry! It's just, Chrestomanci wanted to talk to me and I got all distracted while I was getting ready earlier so I had to hurry back and make sure I looked okay and I ran all the way here, sorry if I'm late!"

"You're not." Fakir reached out and touched her cheek with his free hand. She was all pink and flushed from her run downstairs, and it looked so cute. "Don't worry. I only just got here myself a minute or so ago, and… I think I was a bit early." It was his turn to go pink. "A-anyway, you want to get going?"

"Y-yeah!" Ahiru beamed. "I really worked up an appetite running like that, I think!" She took hold of the picnic basket Fakir was holding in his other hand. "Here, I'll help you carry it!"

"All right." He smiled. "Thanks."

The gong signaling a half hour before dinner went off just as they passed through the door; they paid it no mind, as their evening plans were for a more private dinner together. Picnic basket in hand, they walked through the grounds towards their destination: the duck pond. Summer's advent meant the sun still had yet to set, and they would have good light for their meal for some time yet to come, while also enjoying the cooler air of the day's end. All in all, it was the perfect setting for an intimate outdoor date.

When they reached the pond they took a moment to admire it, and Ahiru chirped happily to Fakir about how some of the ducks were still about before taking out the blanket he'd packed and helping him spread it on the ground a short distance away from the edge of the water.

"What did Chrestomanci want to talk to you about?" Fakir asked as they started unpacking the food. "Nothing bad, I hope."

"No, nothing bad, don't worry. But…" Ahiru pursed her lips and looked down at the packets of crisps she'd just set out. "A lot of it was really really personal stuff about her life and her past, so I dunno if it'd be right to tell you about it, I know I wouldn't _feel_ right just blabbing it without permission. Sorry…"

"Idiot. You don't have to apologize for that." Fakir shook his head. "That's a _good_ thing to me. You're a trustworthy person who respects others' privacy, how can that be bad?"

"Oh, I know, I know that, I just…" Ahiru sighed. "We share pretty much everything with each other so it feels weird not telling you something, you know?"

"… I know what you mean." He looked away for a second, and then looked back at her and laid his hand over hers. "But it's all right. Really. It doesn't bother me not to know. It'd only bother me if you told me without thinking of her wishes, but I know you're not that kind of person. I know that I can always trust you to keep _my_ secrets." She'd kept his writing a secret until he was ready to tell everyone else, after all, among other things that she knew were to remain between them.

"Of - of course!" Ahiru looked up at him with wide eyes, nodding. "I'd never tell anyone stuff you wanted me to keep between us! Never ever!"

"I know." Fakir smiled. "And it's the same with me, I would never reveal anything about you to others that you didn't want me to."

"Y-yeah, I know that." Ahiru smiled. "Though, um, there's one thing I can definitely tell you that we talked about."

"Oh?"

"Y-yeah." She squeezed his hand, and both their hearts fluttered. "She brought up how we realized at my uncle's house that we met a long long time ago, when it should've been impossible cause of how my uncle kept me confined to his house and you lived kinda far away and everything, and then found each other again years later… she was kinda worried about the fact that we're so young and you're gonna wind up working with me for years and years as the librarian and what if it didn't work out between us which is scary to think about, but anyway she said she's less worried now cause of us remembering that, she thinks… she thinks we're meant to be together." She blushed.

Fakir blushed too, but he couldn't help but smile. "I hope she's right," he said quietly, giving Ahiru's hand a squeeze before letting go and opening up a packet of crisps. "I have no way of knowing for sure… but I do know how happy I am with you, and how grateful I am every day that I survived the fire and could meet you again."

"Me too." Ahiru snuggled closer to him and rubbed her cheek against his shoulder before moving back a little and reaching for her own food. "I'm so happy I found you again," she said after swallowing a bite of her sandwich.

"Yeah. So am I." Fakir took a sip of the lemonade they'd brought. "It's funny how it worked out… I found you that first time in your uncle's garden, and then you had to come find me here. It's almost like a fairy tale."

"Y-yeah! A-and -" Ahiru gulped down the food she'd been chewing. "Something else she told me was that one of the things her predecessor taught her that she really believes now is that there's no such thing as coincidences. S-so, she doesn't think it was a coincidence that we met as little kids and then found each other again, and really when you think about it we were always gonna meet someday anyway, cause you have enchanter's magic and I'm gonna be the next Chrestomanci so I have to come and be taught here and you would've had to be taught here no matter what, and then there's the fact that she saved you so that you could survive and meet me again, and there was other stuff but basically we're all connected and it feels like it was supposed to be that way. So she's probably right about there not being coincidences."

"I'd have to agree." He nodded. "Even not knowing all the things you discussed with her, it doesn't seem likely that this web of connections is accidental or coincidental. I don't know what I believe about fate or anything like that, but… I do think that no matter what, you and I were meant to find each other somehow."

"Y-yeah, me too."

They fell quiet for a few minutes after that, just eating and enjoying the comfortable silence, until Ahiru spoke up again. "So, um… we're going to be going away kinda soon, to that private island in Series Five… are you excited?"

"Of course I am." Fakir paused to wipe his mouth. "I've never been to a world or series outside this one, so it'll be really interesting to see how different it is."

"Y-yeah, about that…" Ahiru looked down at her lap, and brushed some crumbs off her dress and onto the blanket. "I - I know you said your magic's suited for working in the library and I know you wanna stay by my side and that you might get to make some trips occasionally… but are you really sure you'll be happy doing that? Cause you won't get to travel much and see other places and you'll be stuck inside a lot… will that be okay for you?"

"Yes. Don't worry about that." He wiped his hand on a napkin, and then took hers again. "Don't get me wrong, I am interested in seeing other worlds and traveling. I think it'll be good for my writing, and they're just interesting in and of themselves. But I also just like being at home. I like the quiet. And I love being with you. If I'm going to be traveling to distant places, I don't want to go alone. I want to go with _you_. I don't mind so much the prospect of an occasional short excursion for work, but I don't want that to be my life the way Rue does. The very best trips will be the ones we take together."

"Oh… okay… okay, that's… that's good to know." Ahiru blinked several times, and wiped at her eyes with her free hand. "Cause I… I was starting to worry if maybe you were holding yourself back just to be with me, I know you said you always planned to be the librarian and Chrestomanci said the same thing, but she also said you seemed more set on it since we became a couple and it feels like it to me too, so I kinda worried… I mean, I'd miss you if you were away all the time, but I wouldn't want you to feel like you had to stay stuck here with me."

"I'd never feel that way about it." Fakir lifted her hand and kissed it. "I promise. Think about it, Ahiru… you know what I'm like. You know I'm not the social type, always needing to be around people and having adventures. I won't think of it as being cooped up in the library all day when I'm working there, I'll think of it as being able to work in an ideal, quiet environment. And on breaks and at the end of the day I can see you. It'll be good for me."

"Th-that's true. I _do_ know what you're like by now," Ahiru conceded, and her expression brightened. "I - I just have to think about it like that and remember that, and not worry that you're taking yourself away from something you'd want for my sake, cause I don't ever want to stand in the way of the kind of life you want."

"It's the opposite." He kissed her hand again. "You're a _part_ of the life I want. An extremely important part."

"Oh, Fakir…" Ahiru smiled at him through her tears, and laid her other hand on his cheek. "You're such an important part of the life I want too, you're so important to me, you mean so much to me you don't even know cause I can't put it into words… but you really are, so please don't ever forget it, okay?"

"I won't." He shook his head. "Don't worry about that." He still struggled with feeling like he deserved someone like her in his life, struggled with feeling worthy of her love, but he never for a moment doubted or forgot that she _did_ love him, with all her heart. And it was so precious and amazing a thing, to know that Ahiru loved him and to feel that love directed at him. He'd never let himself take it for granted.

"I'm glad. Cause - cause you better not." Ahiru wiped away the last of her tears. "Um, but, anyway… I know you're really interested in seeing Series Five, but what other ones do you wanna see? Series Seven sounds really cool from what Rue's said about it with all the mountains and everything and I wanna see Series Six too, especially after reading that story of yours… but Eight sounds kinda scary cause of all the dragons and stuff." She shuddered.

"Yeah… I'd like to see those too." Fakir slipped his arm around Ahiru, and she happily snuggled closer to him. "Series One could be interesting too… and I'd like to at least see an Asheth temple cat from Ten, just once."

"Oh yeah! Me too!" Ahiru nodded. "An-and it'd probably be fun if we took a trip on one of those trains in One together, you know? Oh, and Three… Three sounds so pretty, with all the forests and the treehouses and everything. Oh, there are so many worlds I'd love to visit eventually…"

"I'm sure you'll see them all at some point." He kissed the top of her head. "And we'll visit them together when we can."

"Of course! I want to see all the fun stuff with you!" Ahiru tilted her head to look up at him. "Even if I have to go by myself for some kind of official business or something, I'll go back with you later and show you all the cool things. I promise!"

"Sounds good to me."

They fell once more into an easy, comfortable silence and simply held each other for a while, with occasional bursts of conversation. Dusk fell eventually, but still they remained there, wanting to enjoy as much of the night together as they could. Fireflies and summer constellations alike were admired and marveled at as they emerged in the growing darkness, and also became romantic lighting for their physical affections. Only when they began to feel tired did they reluctantly pack up and head back inside, parting at their bedroom doors with goodnight kisses and more words of love.


End file.
